127. Shepherd from Doftana Valley

By facing an art handled with virtuosity and precision, artist Nicolae Grigorescu would employ all the artistic genres throughout his creation. From portraits, interiors, still life, nudes, landscapes, subjects inspired by the independence campaign, to scenes from the Romanian peasant's daily life, the artist will capture authentic views from his journeys. Upon his return from France, Grigorescu would be increasingly drawn by outdoor painting, which he later adopts as a working manner. Gifted with visual features, the artist will capture impressive themes related to life in the countryside and the world of the Romanian peasant, which, later in time, will receive deeper meanings. Visual in his manner and spontaneous when it comes to spreading the ink on his canvas, the artist sees painting as expression through colour, and he would handle it upfront, without preparatory interventions. The working technique assimilated in Barbizon can be seen in the landscapes created in Rucăr, Dâmbovicioara, Lunca Siretului, Câmpulung-Muscel or Târgoviște, places that the artist would visit continuously during the summer. His direct observation of nature in its incessant change, accentuated by his sensitivity and receptivity to the beauty of the surrounding world, would determine the modulation of his pictorial language within the boundaries of the Realistic approach. Being first and foremost a visual artist by execution manner, by clarity, as well as by the luminous colour scheme, the artist will remain devoted to nature, which he will cover in Realistic plastic expressions. Close to nature, subjects such as: peasants ploughing the fields, going up or down country roads, peasant women spinning the wool by the garden gate, old countryside cottages, forest edges, young male and female shepherds guarding flocks of sheep, will offer his artistic repertoire a broad picturesque. Without a doubt, the young shepherd is one of the most cherished central characters of his work. With a noble speech, gaze and apparel, the young shepherd we find in Grigorescu's country fields appears to be agile and slender. Just like a monarch, the young shepherd owns and guards his native land, covered in the sunlight of chilly mornings or in nocturnal clair-obscure. Year after year, Grigorescu will be following him closely, seeking him in the mountains in the summertime, and observing him with affection. On the Ciungi, in the mountains of Agapia, into the Siret Valley, Buzău Valley, Mosneag Valley, or near the Ruins of Văratec, the painter would faithfully capture him, his presence standing as a living testimonial of the authentic Romanian space. (G.M.)

References

VLAHUȚA, Alexandru, "Pictorul N. I. Grigorescu: Vieața și opera lui", Scrisul Românesc Publishing House, Craiova, 1910. OPRESCU, George, "Nicolae Grigorescu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1963. CIUCA, Valentin, "Pe urmele lui Nicolae Grigorescu", Sport-Turism Publishing House, Bucharest, 1987. BREZIANU, Barbu, "Nicolae Grigorescu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1987. CEBUC, Alexandru, "Grigorescu", Official Journal Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007.

Dimensions

width 39 cm, height 22 cm, custom 22 × 39 cm

Description

oil on wood, signed bottom right, with red, "Grigorescu"

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